Intimidation or sloppiness? GOP robo-calls sowing voter confusion

King County Election Director Dean Logan sent out a press release yesterday, reminding voters that they do not need to re-register in order to vote this fall. Why would Logan feel the need to remind voters of something that they shouldn’t need reminding of?

This week, King County received phone calls from a handful of alarmed voters who received blank voter registration forms in the mail with a notation suggesting that they were not registered to vote. Election officials across the state have received similar calls from voters concerned about the status of their registrations.

“The voters we’ve heard from are properly registered,” said Logan. “They participate in every election and haven’t moved or changed their voting information so the message in the mailing is particularly disconcerting.”

In one incident, a King County voter reported receiving a recorded phone call from a national political campaign committee stating their records indicate she might not be properly registered at her address. The county’s official voter registration records show the woman properly registered.

In fact, I’ve been hearing scattered reports of these robo-calls for the past couple weeks, and it’s not exactly clear what the motive is. Is this some kind of incompetent GOP GOTV campaign? Or is it yet another ham-fisted example of Republican voter intimidation and suppression?

We’ve all heard about the Republican National Committee’s “sophisticated” data mining operations, but if they are trolling for unregistered households with GOP-leaning demographics, they sure seem to be hitting an awful lot of registered Democrats. And whether the intent is voter registration or voter intimidation… March seems to be an awfully odd time to attempt either.

Whatever. Here’s a transcript of the phone message that’s been going around Washington State:

“This is the Republican National Committee with an important alert. Our records show that you may not be properly registered to vote in your district. These elections are very important.

You have the opportunity to vote for republicans who will stand up for your values or liberals who will fight for their own special interests.

Please take a moment to look into whether or not you are properly registered to vote, and if you are not, please take the time to fill out the form and send it in.”

A number of county auditors from around the state have reported receiving angry phone calls from confused voters, wondering why they need to re-register… and in most every case, there is absolutely nothing wrong with their registration.

And it’s not just happening in Washington State. The DNC has recently received reports of the same robo-call message hitting registered Democrats in Nebraska… and the RNC apparently tested a similar campaign in 2005 during the closely contested governor’s race in Virginia.

Hello, this is an important election alert. Our records indicate that you may not be properly registered to vote at this address. The race for Virginia’s next governor will be close. Every vote will count. That’s why it is so important that you are properly registered to vote. You’ll be receiving a form in the mail in the next couple of days. Please, take a moment to fill it out and return it by October 11 so you can exercise your right in the upcoming election on November 8. Paid for and authorized by the Republican National Committee 05077. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Regardless of intent, these calls can’t help but sow confusion. Listen to the audio; no wonder this robo-call had dozens of Virginians calling registrars, elected officials, and attorneys to find out if some change in the law required them to re-register to vote. And considering the recent noise here over plans by the GOP propaganda mill Evergreen Freedom Foundation to run an initiative requiring exactly that, it’s no surprise this recent round of robo-calls has WA state voters coming to the same conclusion.

Considering last fall’s voter registration challenge debacle, it is reasonable to be suspicious of any GOP outreach on such issues. Perhaps there really is no nefarious intent behind these robo-calls, but if you’re going to warn voters that they may not be properly registered, the least you could do is cross-check your list with the publicly available voter registration records.

In any case, it doesn’t seem to bother the GOP that their efforts are leaving hundreds — possibly thousands — of voters unnecessarily confused about their registration status. It’s the type of callous gamesmanship we’ve now come to expect from a party that views voter suppression as just another tool in their arsenal.

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Of course it doesn’t bother republicans. They don’t want people to vote. They want dictators. But I think we should offer a little tit for tat. A group of us are thinking of going to the top five or ten republican counties and holding voter registration drives right before the next election. Of course, it could be a tragedy in the making since we are all sloppy people, we may looooose those registrations, leaving thousands of righties thinking they are registered to vote when they’re not. Boo hoo!

Isn’t it nicer for the GOP to send out voter registration forms so that “mailbox” voters can correct their addresses, instead of challenging their right to vote? Whatever it is, you can count on Dean Logan to shrilly complain about the Republicans every chance he gets.

I am inspired. I will have to hang out my flag and multi language “register to vote here” signs and start registering all the new multicolor folks who just moved into the SHA project across the street. I better get another couple of packs of registration forms.

Every progresive needs to register anybody in sight. More turnout, esp. I-5 – we win.

I and a friend have started placing 10,000 forms in business in the most communist parts of Seattle. Look for giant registration campaigns from queers – a key component to beat Eyman. Ref 65 is at the printers so to speak.

Will post his email on the topic. Schmuck indeed.

Going to kick Timmie in the ass at fundraisers all summer. Bend over Timmie.

Goldy, we will need a good barker, and isn’t he your nemisis el grande? – Get ready.

All you need to do is revise the PDF so it doesn’t meet the legal requirements, then leave piles of them around in appropriate places and let the public decide. Why not add a line asking for contributions to “Help Us Help Taxpayers” while you’re at it? Trust the voters, not the politicians!

Now that our Republican prosecutor, Norm Maleng, has given the green light to felony vote tampering by WSRP operatives, we have to expect more of this criminal behavior. At least until we get a new prosecutor.

I used to respect Maleng, even voted for him, but he threw that away when he gave Lori Sotelo a free pass to commit crimes against our most fundamental right — the right to elect our government. Maleng has joined the ranks of the right-wing subversives who want to take that right away from us.

They called me. I am most likely the properly registered womean who received the phone call. As I live the the SE Captol Hill/Central Area I really doubt this was a get out the vote or any other legitimate party acivity. Not sure what they’re up to, but it can’t be good.

The republicans need to do more of this. The dems will never take voter fraud seriously because they are the cause of almost all of it. A recent ACVR report backs up what we have known for years. Donks Cheat!!! Get used to this….. more is on the way.

Metaphor, as in football games, does not the rooter for his / her team chant ” Kick em, kick em,. kick em – way back – in the butt? Is there another way to cheer, or are you already cringing in fear, Mr. Oiinjj?

Ointkee, get a life. It was actually a good funding idea – sell cheap watches and do a stuffed doll into the dunk tank aka Timmie, a week on Broadway —- could net tens of thousands.

This is Hoseph, Bob is out registering at the bars this evening. He just called, 1,069 already and pledge cards for money totallying 6,666.

RR, can you find a date site for Oink — apparently Jim West and he – well let us say – could not work out the top / bottom thing. Too bad. Wih the right macho top, Oink could be a newly sweetened and softened Democrat in months.

This is all counter, of course, to the horseshit put forth by the GOP front group calling themselves the “non-partisan” American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR). As you’ll recall, they and other Rightwing operatives they’re tied to had released reports, propaganda and all sorts of unsubstantiated claims about Democrats and various non-partisan Voter Registration groups such as ACORN having committed all forms of Voter Registration Fraud (which they tried to suggest was “Voter Fraud” — which is quite different).

You’ll be surprised to learn, no doubt, that ACVR and friend were full of shit. It turns out that, one year later, the organizations they scurrilously attacked — in a transparent attempt to smokescreen the real Election Fraud that they were neck deep in — have been vindicated of the various bogus charges as virtually all of the frivilous lawsuits and investigations the GOP liars made so much noise about have simply collapsed.

Yep- The thugs in Ohio slashing tires on Vans and the guy in St Louis are just a few examples of how the Dems cheat. I laugh my ass off every time a donk cries about voter intimidation. Most union thugs ransacking election headquarters are democrats.

In Ohio, rethugs cheated. In Florida, rethugs cheated. And right here in Washington they tried to cheat. . . and got their asses kicked by a republican judge no less in a republican county no less who said there was indeed voter fraud in the Washington Governor’s election, and then he threw out several votes for Rossi! How funny. The lying, scumbag, cowardly republicans cheat in every election. If they can cheat, why can’t we?

Hey Doofus — I’ll bet you thought I’d forgotten ACVR was set up by a GOP operative and a lawyer for Bush/Cheney 04 to peddle Republican lies … even though I’ve posted links to Bradblog’s ACVR expose over a dozen times. Well, I have news for you, bunnies never forget anything, and every time you post this ACVR crap, I’m gonna call bullshit on it. Count on it.

Why not talk about the Milwaukee tire slashing incident? That one was real, not a figment of a GOP operative’s ritalin overdose. Too bad those Milwaukee Democrats only slashed tires instead of throats. (If Ann Coulter thinks you guys can do it, then why can’t we?)

“‘You could steal the election and no one would ever know,’ Leon County (FL) supervisor of elections Ion Sancho says. Sancho arranged for an independent study by Black Box Voting with security experts Harri Hursti and Dr. Herbert Thompson, discovering critical security flaws in the Diebold voting system. These flaws were confirmed in a study ordered by the California Secretary of state. Today the state of Florida issued a Technical Advisory to all Supervisors of Elections based on these findings. And today, Sancho received a letter from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sec. State Sue Cobb, threatening action by the state of Florida to take over Leon County elections.”

ACVR’s general counsel is Mark Hearne III, who served as “national election counsel” for Bush/Cheney ’04, and before that, as a Reagan administration official. He was photographed at a National Republican Lawyers Association reception in March 2005.

ACVR’s publicist is Jim Dyke, who previously served as the RNC’s communications director.

Brian Lunde, touted as a “Democrat” with ACVR, was a big donor to both Bush’s re-election campaign and Republican PACs.

“The organization’s 368-page study “Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression in the 2004 Presidential Election,” which was released last week, indicated that Democrats were the instigators in every case from Alabama to Wisconsin — except two.

“It also said that the two complaints regarding Republicans had no merit.

“The ‘findings’ about Democrat wrongdoing are not surprising considering that the three public faces of the nonpartisan group are very partisan Republican operatives — including one who claims to be a sounding board for senior White House adviser Karl Rove.

“The supposedly nonpartisan American Center for Voting Rights — which purports to expose voter fraud — is a fraud.”

“Claude Allen is a strong advocate for family values and will undoubtedly provide the President trustworthy counsel on key domestic issues. Mr. Allen’s appointment is a hopeful sign that President Bush is committed to a pro-family agenda for his second term. While we would have liked to have seen Mr. Allen confirmed as a federal judge, his new post within the White House suggests that the ‘values voter’ will have a strong voice within the administration on policy decisions affecting the family”

Dobson introduced Allen with profuse praise. “I just said how much I love and appreciate you, and it comes directly from my heart,” Dobson told Allen. Allen responded in kind, declaring, “It is such a privilege to be on your program. You too have been just dear to me and my family, and so we’re very grateful for that. And thank you for your leadership on so many issues that are important to the family and our nation.”

This is merely a desperate Dean Logan “sideshow” to deflect attention away from Stefan’s nearly 6-month old Public Record request for the Transaction Logs. Logan takes a few phone calls from Democratic Party activists and makes it news. Why? TO DEFLECT! Transaction Logs documenting each & every entry into that Voter Registration Datadase is a FUNDAMENTAL component of any database system like this. It shows who made the entry & when. Logan is a very desperate man….Stefan has him checkmated but Logan is still looking for another move. Watch, Logan will try to get Stefan to look away for a second as Logan cunningly shifts a piece, hoping no one will notice. Too bad for Dean Logan, it’s all on TAPE (or a Disc)!

Mr. C — do you have any idea why Stefan isn’t going to share the fines and attorney fees he collects from KCRE with the generous donors to his “legal action fund” instead of keeping all the money for himself? Is Stefan is a disgruntled ex-employee of KCRE, or just a selfish prick? Do you think there’s any chance he’ll go postal?

On the other hand, maybe there’s a chance the judge will conclude Logan and KCRE complied with the PDA when they gave Stefan access to 600,000 documents, a taxpayer-provided room to work in, and six weeks of a county employee’s time to assist him.

Cyn — what I mean is, don’t you think there’s some chance a judge would realize Stefan is only one of 6.2 million Washington citizens entitled to access KCRE’s public records, and Stefan’s special privileges need to be balanced against the rights of other citizens?

Roger and Gang you all are fast to chastise the Republicans, promote hate from your side of the state, and your success is quite apparent in this Blog. You blame everyone else except your self when there is shortcoming that do not meet your expectation, but provide no real answers to this problem. The question is when are you going to clean up your own house before you stick you nose into everyone else house? Seattle likes to steal from everyone else bank account but do not want to use their own money. When called foul you defect the attention to something else while you clean out every one’s wallet like a pickpocket. That is how Ron Sims, Greg Nickels, Dean Logan, and Seattle School Board appears to the folks out side your city limits. You are fast to steal but don’t share your success with the poor in this world, which makes you all a bad Robin Hood. Below is an example of what I’m talking about.http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....rdr11.html

In calling on Sen. Stevens to drop proposed bridges in Alaska and support federal funding for the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, you also fail to mention that his colleague, Alaska Congressman Don Young, was key to the viaduct securing $220 million in federal highway funds. Young could have been petty and vindictive, like your editorial, but he wasn’t and the viaduct received one of the largest amounts in that law, SAFETEA-LU. Many Washingtonians consider Alaska our “second state.” We consider the Alaskans you taunt to be part of our family. I grew up here, admiring Alaska and its independence and beauty. I have had the privilege of working with Alaskans for 25 years. Like many here in the Puget Sound area, I consider Alaskans to be part of my family — their concerns are our concerns. We may differ sometimes, but they deserve respect and fairness, which is more than your newspaper has demonstrated.

Now, now, stop dissing Klake. Can’t you see that his intellectual range is so great that the world desperately needs him to start his own blog?

I am completely serious. Klake, it is time for you to move to the big leagues. You are such a strong voice of reason that I’m sure Mr. Cynical/Oink, JCH, Janet S., Rufus and all of your other friends will join you in your righteous crusade.

Come on, folks, let’s show Klake some support. Vote for him to start his very own blog!

I know many Alaskans. None of them are as right wing as their people in congress…. confounds logic, ballot corruption perhaps?

Amazing how these dour and sour ultra right wingers come from a state so full of good things.

Alaska needs a Patty M. clone …… or would that undermine the egos of the macho crowd too much.

Lkaje – we love Alakans and Alaska – their current poitical leaders are wretched fools.

Did anyone mention how much money the state has from oil. Yet they want the Fed to build the bridge to no where— a bit over the line, Ted. You are soiing your own political bed in the lower 48 – as they say.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11788536/ ‘What’s our platform? We ain’t sure.’ Democrats didn’t have an easier time than the Republicans and were mocked for being in disarray over their party’s message and strategy, its position on the Iraq war and even whom to field for president in 2008.

“What do we stand for? We don’t know. What’s our platform? We ain’t sure. All we know is Dubya’s got it wrong,” reporters sang, using a nickname for Bush.

The travails of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California also came in for a ribbing.

“This job is a zoo, I don’t have a clue,” a reporter sang. But then “Dubya messed up with the ports. I don’t know why, but thank you, Dubai.”

Bush made his fifth appearance and speech at the white-tie dinner.

Reporters dressed as sick chickens for a bird flu skit, as the Incredible Hulk to poke fun at Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who likes to wear a Hulk tie while waging fights in the Senate, and as Cheney hidden behind a Darth Vader mask.

What facts? All you did was (a) refer to a phony report by a fake organization called ACVR, and (b) link to a DoJ web site page that says DoJ monitors elections. Well, duh, because federal law says to!

As for minding our own business, how is Ted Stevens’ proposal to increase oil tanker traffic in Puget Sound only Alaska’s business and none of ours? Do you think Puget Sound is in Alaska? Look at a fucking map, for God’s sake.

As for Seattle “stealing from everyone else,” it’s probably useless to point out to an ignorant fuck like you that Seattle electric ratepayers, not eastern Washington farmers, pay for the electricity that runs the irrigation pumps in eastern Washington. Seattle taxpayers, not eastern Washington taxpayers, pay for eastern Washington’s schools and farm-to-market roads.

Hey — if you don’t like our city money … SECEDE!!! Petition Congress for your own fucking state. Then you can pay your own taxes and support yourselves. Good fucking riddance.

What voting machines do they use in Alaska? Who owns the company that makes them? Is this a Nebraska deal, where the voters “elect” a guy to the U.S. Senate who just happens to own the company that makes the voting machines that “elected” him?

And on top of all the shit that Republicans pull to steal our government from us, we have to listen to Motor Mouths like Doofus preach to us about “Democrat voting fraud.” Yeah right Doofus. Fuck you and your fascist friends.

You right-wing assholes want to fix our country’s “voting fraud” problems? Okay, I’ll tell you how to fix it. Printed paper ballots. Mark an “X” in the box. Count by hand. No exceptions.

Who cares if it takes 6 weeks to find out who won the election, and costs a lot of money? Nobody needs to know on Election Night who won — they don’t get inaugurated the next day, you know. Lots of senior citizens need the part-time work, and it’s well worth the cost in dollars to end all this partisan squabbling and GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, EVERY TIME!!!

How about it, righties? Will you join me in supporting the ELIMINATION OF ALL VOTING MACHINES and returning to hand-counted paper ballots?

Otherwise, shut the fuck up. All your pissing and moaning about voting fraud is hot air. Republicans, not Democrats, are stealing elections. The fact they’re in office is all the proof you need of that, because nobody in their right mind would actually elect these lying, thieving, corrupt, warmongering fascist assholes.

Unlike the GOP, the Democratic Party is actually an open, participatory party in which the platform is written at the grass roots and sent up the hierarchy, not the other way around. And unlike Republicans, Democrats are not mindless clones who are drilled to parrot the party line, they think for themselves and believe it or not Democrats sometimes actually disagree among themselves and with their party leaders!!! Imagine that. Well, no, if you’re a Republican acclimatized to shouting “seig heil!” on cue, you can’t imagine that.

And we can even put purple ink on voters’ thumbs if it’ll make ya happy.

Commentby Roger Rabbit— 3/12/06@ 3:31 pm Roger that is a great idea to restore voter’s confidence in King County tainted election system. You and I know that Dean Logan would not allow the Feds to do an audit on his flawed department. Lets not forget Ron Sims smoke and mirrors routine on how that department is run better that the local Banks. The last thing the Governor would want is that she was appointed and not elected into office. Roger what will her legacy be if she does not clean up King County and restore the voter trust. Avoiding doing the house cleaning is a disservice to both parties and discourages folks to vote on Election Day.

What facts? All you did was (a) refer to a phony report by a fake organization called ACVR, and (b) link to a DoJ web site page that says DoJ monitors elections. Well, duh, because federal law says to!

Commentby Roger Rabbit— 3/12/06@ 3:12 pm

103

You’re pathetic. You don’t even understand what a fucking idiot you are, or how silly you look!

Back and forth and back and forth; nastiness, name calling, and childishness. And many of you wonder why a majority of us do not vote. My conviction to that civic obligation has been numbed by one-too-many deceptions and manipulations. After the election of last November I petitioned and successfully removed my name from the list of registered voters. Never, ever, again. Voting is truly a waste of my time.

Read again – this is a Rossi fan. Still crying those tears of moral superiority.

God – I hate people who do not vote. Just hate them. I feel like I have to make for for their political sickness – and it frosts me.

My Great Granny walked 10 mile barefooted to vote for the first time in rural Arkansas. Very true family story. My Granny used to rant because her mom was “an Indiana Republican” — Mr. Hoover cured that trend for my grandmother.

Her gouhst would appear in my dreams forever if I did not respect the acred right to vote.

Do you care if schools are funded – or any of the ssues? If people turn you off, grouch, then suppot issues. It is your society. Or is it the county of the Czar?

Commentby BOB from BOEING— 3/12/06@ 10:28 pm

No Bob this isn’t a country of the Czar, but that Statue of Linn in downtown Seattle does make folks wonder. Former Voter is one of those Democrats who has no faith in the system maybe Dean Logan can help?

BPA power is cheap because it’s subsidized by billions of dolalrs of no-interest federal loans for dam and powerhouse construction. For example, Grand Coulee’s Third Powerhouse cost $500,000,000 … at zero interest. If a market interest rate of, say, 5% was paid that would add $25 million a year to ratepayers’ bills.

I wonder how many western Washington ratepayers know they’re paying not only for their household electrical consumption, but they’re also paying for the electricity that runs the irrigation pumps in eastern Washington.

To ‘BOB from BOEING’ The continued shrill, smug, incoherence – from the Left and Right – is precisely what drives so many of us away. Any measured, respectful, civil discussion of civics would appear lost. Participation becomes problematical and voting – for ever increasing numbers – becomes an irrelevancy.

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